LAARBRUCH was the last station in Royal Air Force Germany to be built using war-time reparation funds. Opened in 1954, the Station operated Meteors, Canberras and Javelins before its long association with the Buccaneer which began in 1971.

In 1984, re-equipment with Tornado saw the Laarbruch wing comprise three strike/attack Tornado GR1 squadrons; Nos XV, 16 and 20, and ll(AC) Squadron operating the Jaguar in the reconnaissance and attack roles. II(AC) Squadron re-equipped with Tornado GRIA in the late 1980s.

By late 1992, the Force reductions in Germany saw the disbandment of all the Tornado squadrons at Laarbruch and the relocation to Laarbruch of Nos 3(F) and IV(AC) Squadrons operating the Harrier GR7, and No 18(B) Squadron operating the Puma and Chinook.

The Station crest indicates our location between the Maas and Rhine rivers in the Niederrhein region. The surrounding area is predominantly farmland and forest and the nearest town, Weeze, is located three kilometres to the north of the Station, approximately half-way between the larger towns of Goch and Kevelaer.

Laarbruch enjoys exceedingly good relations with the neighbouring communities.

In 1945 the hope for a permanent peace was shared by all nations who enshrined their hopes in the Security Council of the United Nations Organisation. Events in Europe immediately after the Second World War, culminating in the creation of the "Iron Curtain', led the free nations of the west to look for alternative ways of guaranteeing world peace. The result was the formation of regional alliances, one of which was called the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. This Treaty was signed in 1949 by like-minded nations of Western Europe who wished to preserve freedom and 'the rule of law' against the possibility of further aggression from the east.

Since the signing of the treaty. RAF Laarbruch with its operational squadrons has been part of the United Kingdom's contribution to this important defensive alliance. Its tasks are to contribute to the NATO deterrent forces and also to undertake whatever operational task National Policy shall, from time to time, demand. Despite the changes caused by the collapse of communism, the Station, together with the RAF Units at Brüggen, Gatow and Wegberg, continues to fulfil this vitally important task, and now forms part of No 2 Group Strike Command, with headquarters at Rheindahlen, about forty miles to the south.

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